Pausanias reports that every year when the Sun was passing
through the constellation Taurus, Tithoreans planned to steal earth
from the tomb of Amphion and Zethos in Thebes of Boeotia.
Bringing this earth in their city and pouring it over Antiope's tomb
they would have fllvoured the fertility of their fields. In order to
preserve the fruits of their country and following the oracle of Bakis,
Thebans kept watch over the tomb of Amphion and Zethos.
An analysis of Pausanias' text suggests that a quarrel divided the
two cities, every part claiming the right to have in its land the tomb of
Antiope's sons. The involvement of the mythical figures and the
peculiar phase in the vineyards' life during that period of the year
(April-May) both suggest that Thebans tried to protect the growth of
the fruits of Dionysos.peer-reviewe
